<p>Below are some extracted posts from a Parents Forum thread, which graded into a discussion on turf management & how one might pursue academics in golf course design. I though I would post it here for any future searches on this less-conventional college major area.
Original thread:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=59925%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=59925</a></p>
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<p>Yesterday, 08:42 AM #20
cangel Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004Location: ALPosts: 1,333 My favorite is Turf Management - supposed to be many jobs, great locales and high paying. I have it on good authority that the place for young ladies to camp out and try to catch the notice of guys at UMass-Amherst, is on the steps of the building where the basic Turf Management classes are held.Wonder what those would be - Introduction to Nematodes or Fertilizer - Not Just for Cows?</p>
<p>fredo Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004Location: IndianaPosts: 156 cangel - you beat me to it. I was about to write about turf management and I am STRONGLY encouraging my son to consider this degree (which is offered at over 55 colleges by the way) because most of them become golf course superintendents. What he really wants to major in is golf course design but there is no such thing (he creates mini-golf courses all over our house and when he was little he used to create them in the sand when we went to the beach). He is laid-back (read: downright lazy sometimes), unmotivated and a procrastinator when it comes to schoolwork but there's one thing he loves more than anything else: golf. So I am trying to get him to think about what he can do with his life that keeps him in the golf world (and it won't be as a player, he's good but not that good).There's also a PGA Management Program which is offered at 17 universities and is a 4 1/2 year intensive, inter-disciplinary major that includes a 6+ month internship. Some of these majors sound funky but might just be the right thing for some kids who are the square peg trying to fit in the round hole.</p>
<p>Yesterday, 01:32 PM #23
lalady Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004Posts: 58 Hey, I have a nephew getting his masters degree in turf management (or whatever the proper name for it is) at Colorado State University. He loves it and there are tons of great golf course jobs in great places out there. Fredo, keep encouraging your son on this one.</p>
<p>cangel Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004Location: ALPosts: 1,333 You know I'm teasing a little .After all how much do they have to pay you if you get to work at Hilton Head or Kiawah? And my understanding from my source is that the golf course jobs don't pay too badly either!</p>
<p>cathymee Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2005Posts: 36 The PGA program and Turf Management programs at Arizona State U are highly selective and very prestigious. MY Sons friend tried to transfer in,but his ranking(golf score of some kind?) wasnt high enough.They have a School of Construction there as well..it's named after and supported by Del Webb (major southwestern builder).They also have a recreation management major,which I had never heard of but apparently is fairly common..sounds like a great choice for certain kids.D's friend who is in it went to Germany for his internship to lead bike trek tours for US soldier's on RR at the US Armed Forces hotels there.</p>
<p>fredo Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004Location: IndianaPosts: 156 aw, cangel, I knew you were tongue in cheek there! And I think for someone who loves golf, working at a golf course would be kind of ideal. I have a hard time seeing my son as a PGA professional running a course (because of the required social interaction/schmoozing required) but I could see him behind the scenes tinkering with greens, etc. Great perks and a decent salary - sounds like a pretty good career plan.This is actually a really informative thread for those of us with kids who are going to need a different path in life.</p>
<p>Member Join Date: Aug 2004Location: San Francisco Bay areaPosts: 430 Golf courses are the most promoted and perhaps lucrative positions for turf management majors, but the trainining is useful wherever large expanses of well-kept lawns exist, including athletic fields, parks, and estates or historic sites with large lawns</p>
<p>Yesterday, 08:52 PM #31
Papa Chicken Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2005Posts: 93 fredo-- this prestigious group may know what college program(s) may be closest linked to golf course architecture & design:<a href="http://www.asgca.org/page0.aspx%5B/url%5D">http://www.asgca.org/page0.aspx</a>
I'm not sure what to think about their choice of attire, but I guess they reflect the golf course establishment!Perhaps a few landscape architecture programs across the country specialize in golf courses. There must be some academic connection to golf course design.....I just can't imagine that there are NO savvy profs out there picking on this "research" area.The above page also has a link to "Remodeling University", not quite the college for your son, which is a short course on remodeling existing golf courses.</p>
<p>Today, 12:14 AM #32
fredo Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004Location: IndianaPosts: 156 Thanks Papa! That is really interesting and helpful.</p>
<p>Today, 08:28 AM #33
Papa Chicken Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2005Posts: 93 fredo- one more link for you. nice article on academic approach to becoming a golf course designer.......bottom line, its an academic combo of landscape architecture, env science, turf grass management & golfing experience:
<a href="http://www.juniorlinks.com/architecture/%5B/url%5D">http://www.juniorlinks.com/architecture/</a></p>
<p>Today, 09:25 AM #34
Papa Chicken Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2005Posts: 93 last one for you fredo (truly).....found a ranking list of landscape architecture programs, which you might want to check out. You'll have to dig into each program & perhaps the research interests of the prof's. Looks like Ohio State is up there from what I have read, although their web page is difficult to surf. Also, its interesting to peruse the golf course design consultants & their founders' bio's (some via professional play, some via academic turf grass & landscape architecture backgrounds).
Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
1. Ohio State University
2. University of Georgia
3. Kansas State University
4. Pennsylvania State University
5. Louisiana State University
6. Cornell University
7. Purdue University
8. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (tie)Michigan State University (tie)
9. Ball State University (tie)California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (tie)
10. Iowa State University (tie)University of Massachusetts (tie)
11. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
12. Mississippi State University
Master of Landscape Architecture
1. Harvard University
2. University of Pennsylvania
3. University of California, Berkeley
4. Louisiana State University (tie)University of Georgia (tie)
5. University of Virginia
6. Cornell University
7. Kansas State University (tie)University of Michigan (tie)
8. Ohio State University
9. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (tie)North Carolina State University (tie)University of Massachusetts (tie)
10. Auburn University
11. Rhode Island School of Design
Link:<a href="http://capd.ksu.edu/top_ten.asp%5B/url%5D">http://capd.ksu.edu/top_ten.asp</a>
Designers:<a href="http://www.burnsgolf.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.burnsgolf.com</a>
<a href="http://www.andyjohnsondesign.com/dedication.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.andyjohnsondesign.com/dedication.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.brucedevlin.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.brucedevlin.com/</a>
Other interesting stuff:<a href="http://www.eigca.org/articles1.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.eigca.org/articles1.php</a></p>
<p>Today, 09:33 AM #35
cangel Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004Location: ALPosts: 1,333 You know I don't know about the Midwast, but landscape architects down here do very well. It is hard work, with all the downsides of owning your own business, and I think most folks have to spend some years just cutting people's grass and planting bushes, before they get a good enough reputation to concentrate on design and installation vs maintenance. But for the right person, it could be a good career.</p>
<p>Today, 09:53 AM #36
fredo Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004Location: IndianaPosts: 156 Papa...come to Mama!!! (just kidding!) Seriously, thanks so much for those links. The article on becoming a golf course architect is PERFECT and just what we needed. And the rankings are interesting and I'm thrilled to know that two of the top ten are state universities for us. I had been thinking Purdue all along for my son but it has two negatives 1) very big school and 2) with the way his grades are trending, I'm not sure he could get in (have to wait for the SAT scores next year).This is all so helpful and informative...I love CC!</p>